When draining an aircraft waste tank into a service truck waste tank, airlines often experience clogs. Diapers are often the cause of clogs that occur at the opening of a waste tank drain line between the aircraft waste tank and the service truck waste tank. Several tools are available to the airlines for removal of clogs.
One such tool is a Y-coupling. This tool connects to a drain valve between the aircraft waste tank drain line and a service truck drain line. The service truck drain line connects to the Y-coupling downstream. An auger is inserted into the Y portion of the coupling which is pushed back up the waste tank drain line until the clog is removed.
Another type of tool is a pneumatic tool that connects to the drain valve. With the drain valve open, pneumatic pressure is applied to push the clog back into the aircraft waste tank. Once the clog is removed, the tool is removed and the waste tank is allowed to drain.
A third type of tool used is a pneumatic tool that connects to a fitting on the waste tank drain line upstream from the drain valve. With the drain valve closed, pneumatic pressure is applied to push the clog back into the waste tank. Once the clog is removed, the tool is removed and the waste tank is allowed to drain.
The use of tools to remove clogs is very expensive for the airlines because of the various costs associated with it. The use of tools forces the airlines to have one tool at each base. In addition, the use of tools requires the airlines to rely on maintenance personnel to retrieve the tool, to remove the clog, and to sanitize the tool prior to storage. Furthermore, a risk of disease due to failure of the tool arises.
Another way to remove clogs involves opening up the aircraft waste tank and physically removing the clog. This method also creates potential hazards. Upon opening up the waste tank and removing the clog, waste material may spill into the cargo bay exposing personnel to raw sewage.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a clog removal system in which the need for a tool is eliminated. The elimination of the need for a tool eliminates the costs and hazards associated with using a tool.
It is another object of this invention to provide a clog removal system that utilizes existing hardware on the airplane, including the rinse fitting and rinse fluid from the service truck rinse fluid tank, to remove clogs. By utilizing existing hardware, the costs are kept low. In addition, by utilizing the rinse fluid from the service truck rinse fluid tank to pressurize the waste tank drain line, the possibility of overpressurization is eliminated because service truck pressures will not exceed proof limits of the drain line and the existing hardware used.